Yoga for Stress Relief - Ideal for Your Family

Yoga has many benefits for body and mind. Using yoga for stress relief
is particularly effective because yoga combines breathing exercises with
physical exercise and meditation practices.

The slow relaxed breathing used in yoga helps to regulate your
autonomic nervous system which calms your whole being. Physical
exercise reduces the amount of the stress hormone cortisol circulating
in your blood. And meditation is renowned for its profound relaxing
effects.

For these reasons, using yoga for stress relief allows
you to achieve relaxation on many levels. Yoga is also an ideal form of
exercise for people of all ages, making it an ideal family relaxation
activity. Children are brilliant at yoga because they are so flexible.
The only poses that give them trouble are the balances. My daughter
loves the yoga classes we do together.

Moms and dads will find
yoga fun to do together. Grandparents also get great benefits from yoga
because it is so gentle and you can do it whatever your level of
flexibility or fitness. Don't let that fool you, however. When you
have done a yoga session you really feel like you've done a proper
exercise session. It is surprisingly rigorous however gentle it may
appear!

There are many different forms of yoga that you can try, some of
which are more active than others. Iyengar yoga, for instance, requires
the holding of poses for a minute or more. On the other hand, in
Ashtanga yoga you usually move continually from one pose to another
without a pause in between.

If you want to do yoga as a family you
can sometimes find a yoga teacher who will do a class at your home for
all of you. This can be just as cheap, if not cheaper, than finding a
class to go to.

If you would prefer to go to a class then you can often find a good teacher through your local library or leisure centre.

If
you are new to yoga, I would recommend at least having a few lessons
with an experienced teacher. A teacher can help you to become aware of
which parts of your body need concentrating on and can also tailor yoga
exercises, breathing, guided visualisations and meditation to suit you
and members of your family.

Once you become familiar with yoga, you can practice on your own at home using a good DVD program. Look on
www.yoga.com
or visit
Yoga Online
for some free yoga video downloads that give you some exercises to try
out, a 10 minute relaxation session, and other good stuff.

Also try my
store
for some great yoga products, including kids yoga DVDs, a wide range of books, equipment and relaxing music to do yoga to.